"Coca Cola Went To Town" (Information About & Some Examples Of The Hand Clap Rhymes)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision: Nov. 28, 2023

This pancocojams post presents some precursors of the "Coco-Cola Came To Town" rhymes.

This post also presents information about and some examples of the children's hand clap rhyme "Coca Cola Went To Town" aswell as some information some information about pop star Michael Jackson who is featured in later versions of these children's recreational rhymes. 

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks for the publisher of the YouTube videos that are embedded in this post.
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WARNING: This pancocojams post's comment section includes the pejorative word "fag".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/information-about-examples-of-hand-clap.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Information About & Examples Of The Hand Clap Rhyme "Michael Jackson Went To Town".

Click the "children's rhyme" tag and other tags below for more pancocojams posts about hand clap rhymes and other children's recreational rhymes.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
By "children's rhymes" I mean recreational rhymes that are may or may not have been composed by children, but are documented as being chanted by children while playing hand clap games, jumping rope, or recited as taunting rhymes or parodies, or used as counting out strategies.

Most of the examples that are included in this post contain no information about how the rhyme is performed. However, my guess is that all of these examples are hand clap rhymes.

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SOME PRECURSORS OF THE RHYME "COCO-COLA CAME TO TOWN"

"YANKEE DOODLE WENT TO TOWN"
Here's information about the song "Yankee Doodle Went To Town"
From https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/story-behind-the-song/the-story-behind-the-song/yankee-doodle/ Yankee Doodle: The story behind the song - …A Colonial Insult?
..."The “Yankee Doodle” tune was already well known by the 1750s. But tradition says that in 1755 a British doctor named Richard Schuckburg penned new words to mock his American allies. He portrayed the colonists as rude, crude, and cowardly. In the song, Schuckberg referred to the American fighter as both a “doodle”—a country hick, and a “dandy”—a conceited jerk. No one has ever figured out exactly where the term “Yankee” comes from.

One guess is that “Yankee” started as the nickname “Little Jan” used by Dutch settlers at the time. But the Brits used it to mock all American colonists. Later, of course, it became the name of a very famous New York baseball team.

"Yankee Doodle, keep it up
Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy."
George Gaskin, 1897 - "Yankee Doodle"

[…]

Over time, new verses of “Yankee Doodle” were added, changed, moved, and removed. A verse about George Washington, for example, was tacked on after he took command of the Continental Army in June 1775. Interestingly, one of the most familiar verses did not appear until 1842. Today, it is the first verse of the song that every American knows:

"Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni"*.

[…]

As you can see, the history of a song can be long, crooked, and crazy. And in the case of “Yankee Doodle,” a song now sung as a happy ditty was at one time a song of mockery, and then a song of war.

* This “macaroni” does not refer to a pasta noodle. It was a term for dressing so fancy that a person looked silly.
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The asterisk and the note after it is part of that original article.

** 
Here's a version of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" that includes lines from "Yankee Doodle Went To Town: 

"Down by the banks with the hanky pank
where the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
say E-I-O
You Yo Momma stank and so r u
ping pong donky kong
Yo Momma smell like king kong
Micheal Jackson went to town riding on the pony
stuck a feather in is hat n called him macaroni
resse pieces butter cup
u mess wit me ill bust you u up
i woke up in the morning i looked up on the wall
i saw a bunch of cocka roches playin basketball
and they score was 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9 and on 10 they have to try to slap the other person hands if the person misses n slaps their own hand they are eliminated"

-GUEST,Me![Her's The Miami Version], 20 Jun 08 
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The song "Yankee Doodle Went To Town" eventually changed to the rhyme "Coca Cola Went To Town". I believe that change occurred in the 1980s before its inclusion in "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" rhymes. This change from "Yankee Doodle" to "Coca Cola
 reflects the real life marketing event that is referred to as the "Cola wars"

Here's a version of "Coca Cola Went To Town" that reflects the Cola wars and isn't a part of the "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" rhyme family.  

coca-cola came to town
diet pepsi knocked him down
dr pepper fixed him up
now were drinkink 7up
7up caught the flu
now were drinking mountain s\dwe
muntain dew fell off the montain
now were drinking from afountain
fountain water makes me choke
nw were back to drinking coke!!!!!!!XD
-GUEST, 11 Nov 07,  https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034 : Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky

**
In 1984 and afterwards, some versions of verses for what used to be "Coca Cola Went To Town" change that line to  "Michael Jackson Went To Town" to reflect the real life event of Michael Jackson's scalp being burnt while he was performing his song "Billie Jean" during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

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OTHER PRECURSORS OF THE "COCA COLA WENT TO TOWN" RHYME

AINT JANE BROWN
Aint Jane Brown, went to town, riding a billy goat and leading a hound, hound barked, billy goat jumped and threw aint Jane right astride a stump
-Mary Jane, 2014, https://www.buyjumpropes.net/resources/jump-rope-rhymes-songs-buyjumpropesnet/
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"Aint' = "Aunt"

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BUSTER BROWN 
Buster Brown 
Went to town 
With his pants 
On upside down 
He lost a nickel 
He bought a pickle 
The pickle was sour 
He picked a flower 
The flower was yellow 
He bought him a fellow 
The fellow was mean 
He bought a bean 
The bean was hard 

He bought a card 
And on the card 
It said, "Red hot pepper!.
-https://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1016?articleID=176751  Playtime with Buster Brown.

This source doesn't give any information about this rhyme besides that it features the fictional Buster Brown boy character who is the mascot along with his dog Tige for a brand of children's shoes.  The article also mentions that the rhyme is chanted "while "skipping rope as fast as you can".

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I WENT DOWNTOWN TO SEE MRS BROWN

I went downtown,
To see Mrs. Brown*.
She gave me a nickel,
To buy me a pickle.
The pickle was sour,
So she gave me a flower
The flower was dead
So this is what she said…

Icky icky soda pop
Icky icky you
Icky icky soda pop
He likes you!

* or "Charlie Brown"
-https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=5546
  

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE HAND CLAP RHYMES "COCA COLA WENT TO TOWN" & "MICHAEL JACKSON WENT TO TOWN"
"Coca Cola Went To Town" and its variant form "Michael Jackson Went To Town" are composed using a similar format to what I call "trading rhymes". (Probably the most well known example of a "trading rhyme" is "Hush Little Baby")*. In trading rhymes one item is found to be somehow defective and is traded for another item which itself is found to be defective, and this pattern continues again and again.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush,_Little_Baby

In the two rhymes that are the focus of this post, one beverage comes into town only to be beaten up by another beverage. A third beverage either beats up that second beverage or other circumstances cause it to be replaced by yet a fourth beverage. This pattern continues again and again (usually) until the first beverage again becomes the beverage of choice.

"Coca Cola Went To Town" and "Michael Jackson Went To Town" obliquely refer to people's experiences with or perceptions about what has been called "the cola wars" in the United States. Here's information about "the cola wars" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cola_wars
"The long-time rival soft drink producers The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo have engaged mutually-targeted marketing campaigns for the direct competition between each company's product lines, especially their flagship colas, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Beginning in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the intensity of these campaigns have led to them, and the competition in general, being known as the cola wars.[1]

[...]

During the peak of the cola wars, as Coca-Cola saw its flagship product losing market share to Pepsi, as well as to Diet Coke and competitors' products, the company considered a change to the beverage's formula and flavor. In April 1985, The Coca-Cola Company introduced its new formula for Coca-Cola, which became popularly known as "New Coke". Consumer backlash to the change led to the company making a strategic retreat on July 11, 1985, announcing its plans to bring back the previous formula under the name "Coca-Cola Classic".[2]"...
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Some examples of "Coca Cola Went To Town" feature other cola products such as "Diet Pepsi" as the lead cola in that rhyme. Read #5 given below as an example of this.

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My guess is that examples of "Coca Cola Went To Town" rhymes may have been first chanted in the early 1980s. It's likely that a number of versions of "Coca Cola Went To Town" were composed shortly after 1984 as they obliquely refer to Michael Jackson and his song "Billy Jean". In 1984 pop star Micheal Jackson's hair caught on fire when a fire works exploded while he filmed a Pepsi commercial singing a re-worked version of his hit song "Billy Jean".

Michael Jackson’s superstar status and the fact that he was filming a Pepsi commercial explains why many children started chanting versions of "Coca Cola Went To Town" that used his name instead of that original title. The details about that incident also explain why the girl's name "Billie Jean" (or some folk processed version of that name such as "jelly beans") is a part of many versions of that "Michael Jackson Went To Town" rhyme.

However, the fact that most examples of that rhyme end with a line such as "now we're back to Coke" suggests that those versions of that rhyme weren't composed until 1985 when Coca Cola brought back the original formula for Coke (as per the Wikipedia article quoted above). Read the comment given in this pancocojams' comment section that mentions 1985 as the date that that commenter chanted a "Coca Cola Went To Town" rhyme that includes the name "Michael Jackson."

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The "Coca Cola Went To Town" (and the "Michael Jackson Went To Town") rhyme can be chanted alone or in combination with other hand clap rhymes, for instance, as part of long versions of the hand clap rhyme "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky". Versions of "Coca Cola Went To Town" that mention Michael Jackson were very likely composed after that pop star's hair caught on fire accident.

It's doubtful that many children who recite/d "Coca Cola Went To Town" or Michael Jackson Went To Town" are/were aware of the background for the words for those rhymes. And it's probably doubtful that a child composed the original "Coca Cola Went To Town" rhyme.

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EXAMPLES OF THE HAND CLAP RHYME "COCA COLA WENT TO TOWN"
These examples are given in no particular order with their source given after the rhyme. When the "Coca Cola Went To Town" verse is combined with other verses, I'v written it in italics to highlight it. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

1. coca cola went to town



MrRigby666, Jul 30, 2011

coca cola went to town
Pepsi cola shot him down
Dr pepper fixed him up
now were drinking 7 up
7 up got the flu
now were drinking mountain dew
mountain dew fell of the mountain
now were drinking cherry fountain
cherry fountain had a stroke
now were back to drinking coke


Comments are turned off
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*Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/11/my-comments-about-youtubes-policy.html for a pancocojams post on this subject that is entitled "Information & My Comments About YouTube's Policy Enacted February 2019 Which Disallows Comments For Most YouTube Children's Videos".

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2. HOW2 SING Coca Cola | SCOUTADELIC #CampfireSong



Scoutadelic, May 27, 2019

In our #HOW2 Campfire Song series, Tayler & T show us how to sing the repeat after me song, Coca Cola. #CampfireSongs

Lyrics
Coca Cola came to town [repeat]
Diet Pepsi shot him down [repeat]
Dr. Pepper picked him up [repeat]
Now we all drink 7-Up [repeat]

7-Up got knocked down too [repeat]
Now we’re drinking Irn Bru [repeat]
Irn Bru fell down the mountain [repeat]
Now we’re drinking from the fountain [repeat]

Oh no, the fountain broke [repeat]
Now we’ve all gone back to Coke [repeat]
Coca Cola's lost it's fizz [repeat]
Now we all drink Fanta Whizz [repeat]
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"Coca Cola Came To Town" (as sung in the video example given as #2 below) is sung in call & response pattern and sounds like the military cadence "Sound Off". This version of "Coca Cola Came To Town" has a different tune than the version which is chanted by the two girls in version #1 above. The way the girls chanted this song is the way that I've usually heard it performed online (Note: I've never heard this rhyme during the years that I engaged in face to face collecting of children's rhymes, mostly in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area from 1985 to 2008.) Nevertheless, it's possible that the call & response pattern and military cadence tune was the earliest way this rhyme was chanted.

Also, note that the example of "Coca Cola Came To Town" which is given in this pancocojams comment thread includes the information that the rhyme uses the same tune as "Yankee Doodle Came To Town". That old American song is undoubtedly the inspiration for the first line of "Coca Cola Went [or "Came"] To Town" and "Michael Jackson Came To Town" rhymes.
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Because this video features two women chanting this rhyme, the video's comment section wasn't affected by the February 28, 2019 YouTube ban on comments for videos featuring children under 13 years of age.

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3. "We sang it but me and my friend made another part of the song
Coca Cola came to town
Diet Pepsi shot it down
Doctor pepper picked him up
Now we all drink 7up
7up caught the flu
Now we all drink iron bru
Iron bru fell down the mountain
Now we’re drinking from the fountain
Oh no the fountain broke
Now we all drink cherry coke
Cherry coke got in a muddle
Now we’re drinking from a puddle
Oh no the puddle dried up
Now we’re drinking from a cup
Oh no the cup broke
Again we’re back to plain old coke
Plain old coke is so last year
Now we’re drinking ginger beer
Ginger beer needed first aid
Now we’re drinking lemonade
Lemonade had war on sprite
Things are getting really tight
The sink is what we’re drinking from
The sink is running out of water
Our drinking supply is getting shorter
Oh no the sink broke
I guess we’re back to plain old coke"
-Crazy Chix, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHTs7DJwcqw HOW2 SING Coca Cola | SCOUTADELIC #CampfireSong [video given as #2 above]

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4. This is how I learnt it:

Coca cola went to town
Pepsi cola shot him down
Dr.pepper fixed him up now we're drinking 7up
7up got the flu
Now we're drinking mountain dew
Mountain dew fell off a mountain
Now we're drinking from a fountain
Fountain broke
People choked
Now we're back to drinking coke!
Lol bye
-Angela Smith, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHTs7DJwcqw HOW2 SING Coca Cola | SCOUTADELIC #CampfireSong [video given as #2 above]

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5. Down by the river with the hanky bankys
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
say an
epp
opp
epp
bop
bop
Skittle dittle curly pop
I pledge allegence to the flag
That Micheal jackson makes me gag
Diet Pepsi came to town
Coca-Cola pushed him down
Orange soda picked him up
Now I'm drinking 7 up
7up caught the flu
Now I'm drinking Moutain Dew
Moutain Dew fell off the moutain
Now I'm drinking from a fountian
Foutain Broke
Now I'm drinking plain old Coke
-Guest, July 15, 2007 http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034 "Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky"

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6. "Coca Cola went to town
Diet Pepsi shot him down
Dr. Pepper fixed him up
Now we all drink 7up
7up got the flu
Now we all drink Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell down a mountain
Now we drink from a fountain
Fountain broke, people choke,
now we're back to drinking coke"
-Nadia Smalling, Mar 31, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Cw-Awwm_M Coca Cola went to town rhyme (lyrics)
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This video focuses on the sax instrumental music and provides the words but no audio of the rhyme itself. The comment thread for this video remains open (as of November 10, 2019). There are 254 comments to that discussion as of that date at 5:12 PM.

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7. "Mine is cherry soda went to town orange soda knocked him down doctor peper fixed him up now im drinking 7 up. 7 up had no cafeen now im drinking gas a leen. Gas a leen gave me the flew now im drinking moutain dew. Moutain dew fell off the moutain. Now im drinking from the fountain FINALLY the foutain broke now im drinking plane oh coak!😇✌"
-China Gamer, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Cw-Awwm_M Coca Cola went to town rhyme (lyrics)

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8. "thats not how it goes

Coca Cola came to town
Diet Pepsi shot him down

Dr Pepper picked him up
Now we all drink seven up

Seven up caught the flu
now we all drink iron brew

iron brew got split in two
now we all drink Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew fell down a mountain
Now we all drink from a fountain

Oh no, the fountain broke
now we all drink cherry coke

cherry coke was so last year
now we all drink ginger beer

ginger beer got in a muddle
now we all drink from a puddle

Oh no, the puddle dried up
now we all drink from a cup

oh no, the cup broke
now were back to plain old coke"
The Ravagers Of The Lost, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Cw-Awwm_M Coca Cola went to town rhyme (lyrics)

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9. "THIS IS MA VERSION!

Coca cola came to town

diet pepsi shot him down

dr pepper fixed him up

now were drinkin 7-Up

7-Up got the flu

now were drinkin mountain dew

mountain dew fell off the mountain

now were drinkin from the fountain

fountain broke had a stroke

now were drinkin cherry coke

cherry coke lost it's cherry

now were drinkin logan berry

logan berry, lost in sea

now were drinkin iced tea

ice tea died and chocked

now were back to drinkin COKE!

TAADAAA!!!
"
THATS MA VERSION!
-Ro M, 2009, https://malaysia.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091002185754AAMGvg7

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10. "coca cola came to town
pepsi cola shot him down
dr. pepper stiched him up
now we all drink 7-up"
-bendergoonie1985, 09/01/05, bendergoonie1985">http://www.inthe00s.com/archive/inthe80s/smf/1109960765.shtml">bendergoonie1985

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[added November 11, 2019]
11. "I used to sing it:

Down by the river by the hanky panky
where the bull frogs jumped from bank to banky
sayin east side west side east side west side
dilly dang dong!


and i have been trying to figure out the soda song... i know it is like this but i cant remember the end!

pepsi-cola went to town
big red shot 'em down
dr. pepper fix 'em up
now we're drinking 7-up
7-up fell down the mountain
now we're drinking from a fountain
fountain broke, no more coke...

and i know there is more i just don't know what comes after that..?"
-GUEST,Kristen, 18 Feb 10; http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=94034 "Origins: Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky"

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